News and Issues

Ferida Wolff writes: Usually there are many geese in the park but only a few were around on this day. They seemed to be in their own form of social distancing. This goose was eating on its own after being chased away by a connected pair. It seemed to want to gather food near us. It seemed to want company and comfort as if it was looking for its family. I wondered if animals are as prone to get the corona virus as we humans are. I hope the goose eventually finds its natural family. I hope that we all are safe and healthy and remember that while at a distance isn’t our natural way of interacting, it is necessary at this time. more »

December 2, 2014, President Obama: "There may and likely will come a time in which we have both an airborne disease that is deadly. And in order for us to deal with that effectively, we have to put in place an infrastructure -- not just here at home, but globally -- that allows us to see it quickly, isolate it quickly, respond to it quickly. And it also requires us to continue the same path of basic research that is being done here at NIH that Nancy is a great example of. So that if and when a new strain of flu, like the Spanish flu, crops up five years from now or a decade from now, we've made the investment and we're further along to be able to catch it. It is a smart investment for us to make. It's not just insurance; it is knowing that down the road we're going to continue to have problems like this -- particularly in a globalized world where you move from one side of the world to the other in a day." more »

FactCheck.org's Weekly Update: "In this video, we take a look at COVID-19 antibody tests, which can reveal whether someone was previously infected with the novel coronavirus — and explain why a positive or negative result may not always be so easy to interpret. President Trump falsely claimed that his administration was not initially able to meet the increasing demand for ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients because "we weren’t left ventilators by a previous administration." "FactCheck.org monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major US political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding." more »

“Today’s resolution, with one of the largest independent oncology groups in the United States, is a significant step toward ensuring that cancer patients in Southwest Florida are afforded the benefits of competition for life-saving treatments,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “For almost two decades, FCS and its co-conspirators agreed to cheat by limiting treatment options available to cancer patients in order to line their pockets. The Antitrust Division is continuing its investigation to ensure that all responsible participants are held accountable to the maximum extent possible.” more »